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The real numbers behind a Manchester serviced apartment
What a city-centre short-stay unit actually costs to run, and what's left at the end of the month.
Most people see the nightly rate and assume that's the business. It isn't. The nightly rate is revenue; the business is what survives cleaning, linen, utilities, platform fees, the management layer and the void nights nobody advertises.
On a Manchester city-centre one-bed, the line items that move the needle most are occupancy and turnaround cost. A unit at 70% occupancy with sloppy turnarounds can earn less than a unit at 90% with a tight cleaning rota — even at a lower nightly rate.
That's the argument for running short-lets as an operation rather than a side hustle: the margin lives in the systems, not the listing.